In the News

In this section you will find current news reports related to mental health, reports, events, and programs (including training programs). Check in regularly for current information and visit our Facebook page where we post articles, videos, and other relevant items. * Upper Valley Mental Health Resource Guide on Facebook

NEWS

To explore noninvasive deep brain stimulation techniques, a team led by Dr. Ed Boyden at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology tested strategies for delivering electrical stimulation to different brain areas in mice. The study was funded by NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and others. Results were published on June 1, 2017, in Cell. “With the ability to stimulate brain structures noninvasively, we hope that we may help discover new targets for treating brain disorders,” says the paper’s lead author, Dr. Nir Grossman, who is now at Imperial College London. “People have used non-invasive brain stimulation to study a wide variety of phenomena, from mood to memory to driving ability to trust,” Boyden says. “Now, we can do these types of studies, hopefully, in deeper targets in the brain.”

In what some are calling the strongest evidence to date of a genetic link to the development of schizophrenia, researchers have identified a gene that shows a significant association with the mental disorder that may explain its characteristic brain volume reductions and onset during adolescence.

"Published in 2014, the book, 'Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change,' is a guide to a decades-old approach for addicts’ families called Community Reinforcement and Family Training, or CRAFT. CRAFT suggests conversational techniques, helpful questions, and ways of responding to a substance abuser’s (often bad) behavior. It’s like an etiquette guide for dealing with addicts. Yet its goals are much more ambitious: By making loved ones feel listened to, empowered, and supported, CRAFT’s proponents say, family members can motivate them to seek help. And it appears to work."

Oped piece in Nashua Telegraph written by NORMA MacKINLEY-SMITH, NAMI advocate and trainer of NH's Family-to-Family teachers. She writes, "Unfortunately, the statement that Harrison reportedly suffered from mental illness is merely a footnote to the story for many. Yet, it is perhaps the greatest tragedy. As with suicide, the death of this young man could be seen as the terminal stage of an illness."

The Spring 2015 issue includes a story about the creation of this website.

FASTER: A NEW SUPPORT GROUP

F.A.S.T.E.R. is a peer support group for parents of children, teens, and young adults with substance use issues. Group is held every Wednesday from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at 44 Roberts Road in Canaan, NH. Contact Elena (603-359-3321) or Doris (603-306-6574) for more information. Group is free, confidential, comprised of peers, respectful of others' views, accepting of chemical dependency as a treatable disease of the brain, and always hopeful. Walk-Ins Welcome! Please post and pass this information along! Open to all Upper Valley residents.